In a pretty shocking revelation, EA has caved-in regarding their previous contentious decision to make the Taliban a playable faction in the multiplayer component of the upcoming Medal of Honor. The publisher’s final decision was apparently made out of respect for the friends and families of fallen soldiers.
“This is a very important voice to the Medal of Honor team,” he wrote. “This is a voice that has earned the right to be listened to. It is a voice that we care deeply about. Because of this, and because the heartbeat of Medal of Honor has always resided in the reverence for American and Allied soldiers, we have decided to rename the opposing team in Medal of Honor multiplayer from Taliban to Opposing Force,” said EA’s Greg Goodrich on the official Medal of Honor website.
Instead, the players will either be able to play as the US military or the “opposing forces.” Those who supported the move to include the Taliban as a playable faction will argue that the fact that the entire scandal boiled down to essentially the exact same game with a different name attached to a multiplayer faction, highlights just how trivial the issue really was in the first place.
However, many people with closer personal ties to the war may feel relieved.
And thus concludes a long and elaborate saga which saw various government officials from around the world, including Britain, Canada and the US, calling for the game to be banned because it allowed gamers to step into the digital-flip-flops of radical Taliban extremists.
While the removal of the Taliban as a playable faction in the game will quell much outrage, it will not have any effect on the actual gameplay.
“While this change should not directly affect gamers, as it does not fundamentally alter the gameplay, we are making this change for the men and women serving in the military and for the families of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice – this franchise will never willfully disrespect, intentionally or otherwise, your memory and service.”
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